MyFitnessPal regressive upgrade

In October 2025, MyFitnessPal began rolling out a mandatory update for its mobile application, marketed as the "brand new Today tab."^[1] The update was met with widespread criticism from users, who reported that the new version was slow, difficult to use, and missing core functionality. The company also used the update to move a previously free feature behind its Premium subscription tier.^[2]

MyFitnessPal is a popular application for tracking diet and exercise. For years, paying subscribers used a stable version of the app with a consistent feature set. Many users integrated the app into their daily health routines.^[3]

On August 27, 2025, MyFitnessPal staff announced a "brand-new Food Diary page" and invited users to test the new design. User feedback on the announcement thread was overwhelmingly negative.^[2] Users criticized the inefficient design, with one commenting that it was a "terrible UI design that makes it harder to track" due to excessive scrolling.^[2] Another noted that positive features like "good visual separation between meals... have all been removed from the new layout."^[2]

During this test phase, users discovered that the macro percentage pie chart, a core free feature, had been removed. After contacting support, one user confirmed the company's intention was to "[remove] this FREE feature and will allow you to hover over the new macro bar to see the macro percentage with a PAID subscription."^[2]

Despite the feedback, MyFitnessPal staff indicated they would proceed with the changes, posting on October 3 that they would "be making changes over the next few weeks" based on feedback, just before the full rollout began.^[2]

Starting around October 3, 2025, MyFitnessPal began forcing the update on its user base.^[1] The official announcement on October 15 described the update as a "thoughtfully reorganized for a better user experience" and a response to a "long standing feature request."^[4] The comments section for this announcement was closed, preventing public discussion.^[4] The announcement, also posted to the official subreddit, stated that the update "brings a redesigned interface to help you navigate your daily health journey more seamlessly."^[5]

The update removed several key features, including:^[1]

• Copying meals from previous days
• Intermittent Fasting tracking
• Custom Nutrient goals
• Diary Notes

To compound user frustration, the new interface for paying subscribers included a persistent advertisement to upgrade to a new "Premium+" subscription tier.^[3] The company also moved the ability to view macronutrient percentages, a previously free feature, behind its Premium paywall.^[1] Users have reported that the update is "very sluggish" and that "switching days takes seconds, adding food takes seconds, etc."^[6] Other users reported that the app would freeze entirely, forcing them to use the desktop website to log their food.^[7]

MyFitnessPal's official communications framed the update as an improvement based on user feedback, despite the negative reception during the public testing period.^[1] The company acknowledged the removal of features but offered only vague promises for their return, stating they were "being rebuilt" or "will be available again soon."^[1] For the removed "Copy Meals" feature, the company suggested a cumbersome workaround that did not replicate the original functionality, a suggestion users found unhelpful.^[8] One user reported that the workaround did not work at all, with the app incorrectly calculating calories.^[9]

The central issue for many paying customers is the removal of core functionality they had paid for, combined with the company's refusal to provide a remedy. For these users, this was not a matter of preference; the update made the app unusable for the purpose for which they had subscribed.

The company has been definitive that it will not roll back the change. In response to the question "Can I go back to the old design?", the official FAQ states, "The new Today interface is our path forward... We encourage you to give it some time."^[1] This stance is maintained despite user reports indicating that the old interface remains accessible within the app's code via a feature flag, suggesting a rollback is technically simple. Some users have even reported that unsubscribing from the paid service reverts the app to the old, functional interface.^[3]

MyFitnessPal has offered refunds to some recently subscribed users but has denied them to long-term annual subscribers, citing a policy that limits refunds to the current billing period.^[10] This has left many users who paid for a year of service with a product that no longer meets their needs and no recourse for a refund for the remaining subscription period. However, some users have reported successfully obtaining refunds by circumventing MyFitnessPal's support and requesting them directly through their device's app store, such as Google Play.^[11]

Contradicting the significance of the changes, the official App Store release notes for the update (version 25.10.2) stated, "No big fixes or changes to report!" This led users to question the company's transparency regarding the disruptive rollout.^[12] The company's official "Known Issues" pages for its Android and iOS apps also make no mention of the widespread complaints regarding removed features or poor usability.^[13][14]

The combination of the policies and choices outlined above unexpectedly left prepaid subscribers with no recourse, having already paid for a service which now did not perform the function they subscribed for, with MyFitnessPal refusing to provide an immediate technical remedy, and also refusing to refund consumers for the loss of functionality they had prepaid for.

It is noteworthy that MyFitnessPal is an app/service which exists within the health space, specifically described on their Google Play page as "the leading health and nutrition app" ^[15]

This app allows not only tracking of food and calories, but fasting, food diary/notes, water intake, physical activity, and links to other health based apps.

For this reason it is reasonable to consider that a portion of MyFitnessPal users deal with day to day health challenges and stresses, examples being diabetes,^[16][17] PCOS,^[18] insulin resistance,^[18] hypothyroidism,^[19] hypertension,^[20] cholesterol,^[21] pre-diabetes,^[21] and GERD^[21] just to name a few.

The purpose of this section is to illustarate the difference between this incident and something like the Sonos app incident. Both share the feature of sudden significant loss of consumer functionality - the difference here is that the Sonos situation is a matter of consumer enjoyment and preference, but the MyFitnessPal incident carries additional consumer responsibility due to it being an app/service marketed as supporting consumer health.

This is a specific juxtoaposition MyFitnessPal is making when consumers have complained about loss of functionality critical to them, instead reframing the issue as one of user preference rather than necessity: "we understand that not all changes will resonate with every user"^[3]

The effect of the way MyFitnessPal applied it's update - not tied to an app update process, but quietly loading the new functionality into the app and then unexpectedly activating it from the server side, created a situation where users suddenly and abruptly found themselves unable to use a tool interwoven into their health management, creating stress and impacting user mental health, as well as having practical impact on their ability to manage their health.^[3]

During the test phase, users expressed frustration that their feedback was being ignored, with one user asking, "Why go ahead with this change when you've had quite literally no positive feedback so far?"^[2] Another noted that the company had attempted a similar unpopular redesign in the past and had to revert it, asking, "Did they not read the forum from the last time they tried to change it and had to change it back because it was so bad??!!"^[2]

Following the mandatory rollout, the consumer backlash intensified on social media platforms. Many users, some of whom have used the app for several years, feel that critical functionality was removed without warning, disrupting their health management routines. The company's response has been described by some as "gaslighting," as support channels allegedly deflected criticism by creating support tickets that go unresolved.^[3]

Users drew parallels between the MyFitnessPal update and other controversial software rollouts, such as a recent botched update by Sonos that also resulted in a significant loss of functionality for its users.^[22]

Users on the company's official subreddit challenged the claim that the update was a "long standing feature request," with one asking, "Who, exactly, asked for all these changes?"^[5] Another user criticized the decision to release an incomplete product: "If features that people use aren't ready for your upgrade, then the upgrade isn't ready."^[5]

One commenter stated, "MyFitnessPal needs to literally revert to the old build before all this new crap happened. Exactly zero people asked for any of this."^[23]

The update's negative reputation was so widespread that users who had not yet received it posted screenshots of the old interface, asking if they had the "version everyone hates." Other users would confirm they were still on the old version and warn them not to update, with one commenting, "I wish I could go back."^[24]

A user with a 13-year history with the app stated, "MFP used to be so engaging and inspiring when I started... It feels so empty and broken."^[25]

A long-time user of 15 years said, "I have used this app for 15 years and I'm seriously contemplating switching to something else."^[26]

Another user with a 14-year history with the app announced they were also leaving.^[27]

One long-term user of 15 years noted that "simple tasks like copying and pasting" and "viewing all meals" were now problematic, and that the graph on the home screen was gone.^[28]

Another user echoed this, stating, "The new UI is awful. I cannot copy meals from previous days. I have having to click on a day of the week or (worse) if it is a Sunday, click to get to the previous week and then click again. I am now forever clicking on this new UI."^[29]

Another user described the experience as "Practically unusable. Just took me the same amount of time to enter my lunch as it did to eat it and i eat the same thing every day."^[30]

A consistent complaint was the loss of the "copy meal" feature, which was critical for users who eat similar meals daily. One user stated, "I NEED to be able to copy my meals from one day to another. HOW??? HELP!!!"^[31] Another explained, "I plan my meals for the whole week in advance and make small tweaks based on what’s on that day and now it’s become super hard to be able to do that without the copy feature."^[32]

One user who had just subscribed days before the update compared the new version to running Windows in "Safe Mode" due to its "limited functionality." They noted that the layout "sucks" and that it now takes "multiple clicks to get to one screen."^[33]

Due to the perceived decline in usability and the company's refusal to roll back the update, users began actively seeking and recommending alternative food tracking applications. One user, after receiving a refund, noted the end of their "700+ day logging streak" and recommended "Chronometer" as a free alternative.^[11] Another user, who had used the app for over ten years, announced they were deleting their account and moving to "LoseIt," describing the MyFitnessPal app as an "abusive partner."^[34] Another user who switched to LoseIt commented that it had a "MUCH better interface and half the cost."^[35]